Elsevier

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 21, March–April 2015, Pages 61-72
Aggression and Violent Behavior

Personality traits, empathy and bullying behavior: A meta-analytic approach

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.01.007Get rights and content

Highlights

  • A literature review and meta-analysis on the relation among personality, empathy and bullying behaviors

  • Association of personality characteristics with bullying/victimization

  • Gender and age differences of personality traits on bullying/victimization

  • Need for a clear theoretical model of personality in the study of bullying

Abstract

The authors conducted a literature review and a meta-analysis to understand the relation between personality, bullying, and victimization behavior. The objective was to assess the effect of some personality dimensions and variables on either bullying or victimization behavior in boys and girls of different age groups. Studies that assessed the Big-Five model of personality, and personality variables (i.e., cognitive and affective empathy), and that measured bullying acts and victimization behavior, were included in the present review. The results revealed that lower level of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness and higher levels of Neuroticism and Extraversion were associated with both bullying and victimization. On the contrary, cognitive and affective empathy were negatively associated only with bullying behavior. The authors propose possible explanations among these patterns of bullying and victimization behavior, the personality and general demographic characteristics, consider implications, and discuss future directions in the field of bullying research.

Introduction

Bullying, “the most malicious and malevolent form of deviant behavior widely practiced in our schools” (Tattum & Lane, 1989, p. 1), started to appear in the psychological literature from Norway (Olweus, 1978, Olweus, 1989), Britain (Smith, 1991), North America (Dodge, Coie, Pettit, & Price, 1990), and Australia (Rigby & Slee, 1993). In the early 1990s, bullying was identified as a sub-type of children's aggressive behavior (Dodge et al., 1990). Current research indicates that approximately 10 to 30% of children and youth are involved in bullying at school, but its prevalence rates vary significantly due to how bullying is defined, how it is measured and which classification criteria are used (Cook et al., 2010, Nansel et al., 2001, Solberg and Olweus, 2003).

Although the research focusing on children's characteristics involved in bullying dates back to at least the 1980s (see Rigby, 2002, for a review), investigations on personality influences were not prevalent until the middle of the 1990s. Until then, adverse results had been reported (Bjorkqvist et al., 1982, Lowenstein, 1978). Our review suggests that although some findings have revealed that some personality variables are positively associated with bullying and negatively with victimization (e.g., ⁎Mynard and Joseph, 1997, Olweus, 1978, ⁎Slee and Rigby, 1993), other results have shown that personality variables predict greater levels of bullying behavior only regarding gender and the bully status of those involved (e.g., Andreou, 2000, ⁎Menesini et al., 2010, ⁎Mynard and Joseph, 1997). To date, no meta-analysis has examined the relationship between personality variables, bullying, and victimization behavior with the only exception of a meta-analysis on personality traits and aggressive behavior (Bettencourt, Talley, & Benjamin, 2006). Such a review is of interest to a broad range of disciplines invested in understanding why and when individuals engage in bullying acts, including developmental and social–personality psychology as well as sociology, psychiatry, and forensics. In the present work, we conducted a literature review on personality, bullying, and victimization behavior that may guide further theorizing and research in a variety of basic and applied domains.

To provide an integrated understanding of the ways personality may influence bullying behavior, we also performed a meta-analysis of the relevant empirical studies. By doing so, we hoped to reveal which personality variables are associated with bullying and/or victimization behavior. To sharpen our focus, we included only those personality variables theorized to be associated with bullying behavior. Thus, we limited our search according to two important points. First, we did not include studies in which it was unclear whether there is a theoretical association between personality variables (i.e., Machiavellism) and bullying and/or victimization (e.g., Andreou, 2000, Sutton and Keogh, 2000). Second, studies that measured subtypes of bullying (i.e., physical, verbal, sexual, cyber-bullying) were also excluded.

In the following sections, we first define some relevant terms. Next, we discuss the Big-Five factor model of personality (BF), and describe how it might guide our understanding of the relationships between personality traits, bullying, and victimization behavior. Finally, we review the research on each of the personality variables included in the meta-analysis, thereby providing a thorough review of the relevant literature.

Section snippets

Definition of personality, bullying and victimization behavior

Personality is defined as “a dynamic organization, inside the person, of psychophysical systems that create the person's characteristic patterns of behavior, thoughts, and feelings” (Allport, 1961, p. 48). We use the term personality dimensions when referring to the constructs identified by the BF and the term personality variables when referring to the measured constructs available in the empirical literature on bullying behavior. The personality variables that adhered to our inclusion

The Big Five factor model related to bullying

The Big-Five factor model (BF; Costa & McCrae, 1997), a prominent theory of personality dimensions, is useful for understanding the link between personality and aggressive behavior (Jensen-Campbell and Graziano, 2001, Miller et al., 2003). The major personality dimensions in the BF are Neuroticism (or Emotional Instability), Extraversion (or Energy), Conscientiousness, Agreeableness (or Friendliness), and Openness to Experience; each dimension is represented by six facets (McCrae and Costa, 1987

Personality variables in the current meta-analysis

Research on BF suggests that the Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Extraversion dimensions may predict bullying and victimization. As noted, however, little, if any, empirical literature confirms this relationship. Because some studies in our meta-analysis have assessed personality variables, such as cognitive and affective empathy, and measured bullying behavior, the meta-analysis has the potential to isolate relations between cognitive and affective empathy, bullying and victimization behavior.

Gender and age differences related to bullying and victimization

Thus far, many researchers have agreed that there are differences in the way males and females bully, how they are bullied, and what they are bullied about. One common distinction is between physical bullying, such as hitting, kicking and punching, and verbal or psychological bullying, such as name calling, exclusion, gossip, and rumor spreading. Farrington (1993) stated that physical bullying prevails among males and psychological bullying among females. Olweus (1978) found that boys engage in

The present study

In the present study, we meta-analytically examine the associations between personality traits and variables and bullying behavior. Our study has the capacity to refine theories of bullying in several ways. First, because at least some personality variables are expected predictors of bullying and victimization behavior, a literature review will document the need for theories of bullying to articulate how and why these personality variables influence observable behavior. Second, the

Search and selection of studies

As part of this review, materials from experts on the methods of meta-analysis were used (Cooper and Hedges, 1994, Lipsey and Wilson, 2001). The first step was to locate potential studies for inclusion which included sufficient quantitative data on bullying and/or victimization published in English from 1970 to mid-2012. Specifically, multiple search methods were used in order to avoid publication bias of retrieving only the studies that were published due to significant results and larger

Demographic and study design characteristics of included samples

Table 2 provides an overview of the descriptive information of the 27 samples. A summary of these characteristics reveals that most of the 27 samples were very recent, with 2007 as the median year of publication. With respect to the location of those studies examining bullying and victimization, 70.4% were conducted in Europe, 11.1% in the United States, and 18.5% in other various nations (3 in Australia and 2 in Canada). The total sample examined was 3198 children and adolescents, with an

Discussion

On the basis of our literature review on bullying literature, we conducted a meta-analysis to identify and assess some personality predictors of bullying and/or victimization drawing on research published over the past 30 years. We hypothesized that some personality dimensions and variables would be positively and other negatively associated with bullying and/or victimization. This hypothesis is consistent with other studies (e.g., ⁎Jolliffe and Farrington, 2006a, ⁎Jolliffe and Farrington, 2011,

References1 (116)

  • D.L. Paulhus et al.

    The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy

    Journal of Research in Personality

    (2002)
  • C. Salmivalli

    Participant role approach to school bullying: Implications for intervention

    Journal of Adolescence

    (1999)
  • P.T. *Slee et al.

    The relationship of Eysenck's personality factors and self-esteem to bully–victim behaviour in Australian schoolboys

    Personality and Individual Differences

    (1993)
  • P. Albiero et al.

    Designing a method to assess empathy in Italian children

  • G. Allport

    Pattern and growth in personality

    (1961)
  • E. Andreou

    Bully/victim problems and their association with psychological constructs in 8- to 12-year old Greek schoolchildren

    Aggressive Behavior

    (2000)
  • C. Barbaranelli et al.

    BFQ-C. Big Five Questionnaire-Children

    Manuale

    (1998)
  • C.B. Begg et al.

    Operating characteristics of a rank correlation test for publication bias

    Biometrics

    (1994)
  • B.A. Bettencourt et al.

    Personality and aggressive behavior under provoking and neutral conditions: A meta-analytic review

    Psychological Bulletin

    (2006)
  • K. Bjorkqvist et al.

    Bullies and victims: Their ego picture, ideal ego picture and normative ego picture

    Scandinavian Journal of Psychology

    (1982)
  • M.J. Boulton et al.

    Bully/victim problems in middle-school children: Stability, self-perceived competence, peer perceptions and peer acceptance

    British Journal of Developmental Psychology

    (1994)
  • B. Bryant

    An index of empathy for children and adolescents

    Child Development

    (1982)
  • B.J. Byrne

    Bullies and victims in a school setting with reference to some Dublin schools

    The Irish Journal of Psychology

    (1994)
  • A.J. Calvo et al.

    Variables relacionadas con la conducta prosocial en la infancia y adolescencia: personalidad, autoconcepto y género

    Infancia y Aprendizaje

    (2001)
  • J. Cohen

    A power primer

    Psychological Bulletin

    (1992)
  • D. Cohen et al.

    Empathy in conduct-disordered and comparison youth

    Developmental Psychology

    (1996)
  • C.R. Cook et al.

    Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation

    School Psychology Quarterly

    (2010)
  • F.L. Coolidge

    Coolidge personality and neuropsychological inventory for children manual: CPNI

    (1998)
  • F.L. Coolidge et al.

    The Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychological Inventory for Children (CPNI): Preliminary psychometric characteristics

    Behavior Modification

    (2002)
  • H.M. Cooper et al.

    The Handbook of Research Synthesis

    (1994)
  • M.H. Davis

    A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy

    JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology

    (1980)
  • P.T. Costa et al.

    Longitudinal study of adult personality

  • S. Dautenhahn et al.

    Possible connections between bullying behaviour, empathy and imitation

  • M.H. Davis

    Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (1983)
  • M.H. Davis

    Empathy: A social psychological approach

    (1994)
  • M. de Wied et al.

    Empathy in boys with disruptive behavior disorders

    Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

    (2005)
  • K.A. Dodge

    The structure and function of reactive and proactive aggression

  • K.A. Dodge et al.

    Peer status and aggression in boys groups: Development and contextual analyses

    Child Development

    (1990)
  • D. Eder et al.

    School talk. Gender and adolescent culture

    (1997)
  • M. Egger et al.

    Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test

    British Medical Journal

    (1997)
  • D.L. Espelage et al.

    Research on school bullying and victimization: What have we learned and where do we go from here?

    School Psychology Review

    (2003)
  • I.M. Evans et al.

    A behavioural pattern of irritability, hostility and inhibited empathy in children

    Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry

    (2002)
  • H.J. Eysenck et al.

    Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

    (1975)
  • H.J. Eysenck

    Psychosis and psychoticism: A reply to Bishop

    Journal of Abnormal Psychology

    (1977)
  • D.P. Farrington

    Understanding and preventing bullying

  • E.D. Felix et al.

    The role of gender in peer victimization among youth: A study of incidence, interrelations, and social cognitive correlates

    Journal of School Violence

    (2007)
  • N.D. Feshbach

    Studies of empathic behavior in children

  • N.D. Feshbach et al.

    The relationship between empathy and aggression in two age groups

    Developmental Psychology

    (1969)
  • A.P. Field

    Meta-analysis of correlation coefficients: a Monte Carlo comparison of fixed- and random-effects methods

    Psychological Methods

    (2001)
  • G. *Gini et al.

    Does empathy predict adolescents' bullying and defending behavior?

    Aggressive Behavior

    (2007)
  • Cited by (0)

    This research was supported in part by a scholarship to the first author from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Greece. The first author wishes to thank Dr. C. Dolan and Dr. J. Wicherts for valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

    1

    References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the meta-analysis.

    View full text